Les hommes ont oublié cette vérité, dit le renard. Mais tu ne dois pas l'oublier. Tu deviens responsable pour toujours de ce que tu as apprivoisé.

("Men have forgotten this truth," said the fox. "But you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.")

- Le Petit Prince, Antoine de Saint Exupéry

Chapter 14

He waited crouched in the corner of the room, his knees clutched to his chest, his back rigid against the wall. In the absolute stillness, he canvassed the surroundings for any sign of life. He could hear nothing. The world had become the quietest quiet he had ever known - not the peaceful quiet of breathing, or even the calm before the storm. It was a terrifying void, a lonely emptiness, as if life all around him had suddenly ceased to exist, as if there had never been anything there to begin with. He might have thought himself deaf if it were not for the fact that his mind was unable to discern anything either.

He wanted to speak, to test his voice, but he was afraid that she might hear him. And he knew she was coming. He stayed perfectly still, an ivory statue, hoping to remain undetected. But the silence was maddening. He thought he might scream if something didn't change quickly.

And then he gasped, and terror on a level he had never yet experienced penetrated his very bones.

"Edward?" Her high, reedy voice floated from somewhere close by, echoing through the passageways, seeking him. "Ed-ward!"

It was only when the echo faded that he realized he had not heard the sound of his gasp.

The panic seized him and, without thinking, he fled the safety of the room.

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Carlisle had spent the better part of the evening trying to calm Edward.

He tried reasoning ("But you can't hear her now." Said very, very gently.

"It doesn't matter!" Edward had shouted, frustrated by Carlisle's attempt to placate him as if he were a child, infuriated by the man's apparent determination to ignore the very real danger at hand, and out of his mind with fear. "That's what she does! She makes you think she is one place but she is altogether in another!").

He tried soothing ("Edward! Aro has restricted access to this area. She would never openly defy him! If you stay here while I go and address the problem, you will be safe."

This had brought on a fresh round of wailing, teeth gnashing, garment rending and destruction of other items.

"Edward, really!" Carlisle, too, was very stressed and worried and his patience was waning.).

He was just about ready to resort to human tranquilizers in his desperation to deal with the hysterical being.

In retrospect, he wasn't even sure why he had been so determined to leave Edward in the room. It had just seemed safer than trying to run the gauntlet with him in tow, especially when they did not know how many - in addition to Jane - might be tracking them. Walking away from Edward, he had a brief moment of doubt, but his resolve to get to the bottom of the matter and be done with it once and for all propelled him through the maze to Aro.

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Edward ran blindly, trying to remember which hall led where, but all of his endeavors at memorizing the grounds failed him in the heat of the moment. He decided he didn't really care where he was, so long as he was moving away from her. But he chose the passageway leading to the library as he was fairly certain he could find his way to Carlisle and Aro from there.

The oppressive silence weighed him down, and the sick feeling of dread, knowing that at any instant she might call for him again, rendered him all but paralyzed.

So focused was he on trying to hear her that it was several seconds more before he realized that he was no longer able to see. Everything had gone black, as if all the lights had been extinguished at once, as if the sun itself had been put out. He ran into a wall and felt around, trying to orient himself with two of his senses now completely dead.

A few seconds more and he realized he could no longer feel anything under his fingers. His senses were being cut off, one by one. Horror filled him as his body turned to stone.

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"Leave us." Aro said in his drawling, easy voice, though his eyes betrayed him. And as the door closed behind them, "Yes?" The seriousness of his tone matched Carlisle's face.

"We have a problem, and if it did not come from the top, you need to find out immediately where it originated."

"My dear Carlisle, it almost sounds as if you are - " Aro struggled to compose himself, flustered by the other man's posture.

"Jane." He almost spat the name, so strong was his distaste.

"What about her?"

"She has resumed her fixation with Edward."

"How so?"

"She is threatening him."

"I find that very hard to believe -" Aro leaned back to make himself more comfortable in his chair, sensing the discussion was nowhere near its end.

"And yet that is the case," Carlisle said evenly.

"And when did this happen?"

"Late this afternoon."

"Impossible, she was with me most of the day." Aro folded his hands in his lap, as if the matter were resolved. "Did Edward tell you that he saw her?"

"No," Every iota of Carlisle's being hesitated, but the moment for action had come and if he couldn't confide in Aro, they were doomed anyway. "He heard her."

"I repeat," Said Aro, seeming more than a little exasperated by the drama that had interrupted his evening activities, "Jane has been with me - "

"Edward is able to hear thoughts." He exhaled and closed his eyes, waiting.

"To hear thoughts?" asked Aro carefully. "Meaning... what, precisely?"

"He can read minds."

"As I do?" The Volturi was surveying him keenly, a shrewd look in his eye that sent a cold wave of fear through Carlisle.

"No." He forced himself to continue. "Not like you. He can hear what others are thinking as they are thinking it. All of them at once. Everyone in the vicinity. He hears it all at once."

Aro cocked his head slightly, reiterating so that he understood. "Soooo... whoever is in the... vicinity, as they are thinking, he hears what they are thinking?"

"Yes." Carlisle allowed himself one shallow breath.

Aro's eyebrows lifted as he reflected on it, surveying his hands in his lap.

And then he smiled to himself. "Truly, that is a marvelous gift!"

"I suppose that depends on one's point of view." Carlisle said tersely. "It has nearly driven the boy mad." He really didn't feel like wasting time on the pros and cons of Edward's talent. "What do you intend to do about Jane?"

"Hmmm?" The ancient vampire had been musing to himself. " And what is it that Edward heard? When he was reading her mind?"

"He wasn't reading her mind. He was in the room, with me, and he heard her - he saw, well, knew that she was looking for him again. Good God, Aro, I can't explain how it works! I would think that you of all people would be in a better position to understand! The fact is that we are right back where we started, that once again Jane has initiated some sort of attack that you must stop. NOW!"

Aro sat pensively. "Did Edward tell you what he heard? I mean, what she was thinking?"

"No, Edward is hysterical and I had trouble getting anything coherent out of him, as is only to be expected."

"So, Edward didn't -"

"Aro!" Carlisle's teeth snapped shut. "Time is of the essence! Edward is alone in the room."

"Alright, alright. It's a very delicate matter, not one that we can just jump in the middle of. But if the boy is alone. Well...

"I shall speak with her, of course." He looked around the room, but only Renata was still there. "Oh. Be so good, Carlisle, as to open the door and bring the others back in."

Astonished by the man's conciliatory mood, Carlisle could not but hasten to comply. He did not stop to ask himself why Aro had responded as he had; he merely turned quickly to walk back to the door. He pulled it open and, seeing no one in the ante-chamber, walked beyond it into the hallway. He heard the others restlessly moving in front of him and ventured further.

And then he became aware that all sensation of existing was being severed from his mind.

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Edward lay in the dark stillness, trembling, waiting for her to descend. He wasn't certain how long he had been in this state; it could have been hours or days. It felt much longer than that, for time is always longest when one has nothing to do but wait for the event or thing one fears the most.

His mind started when he heard a voice, and he immediately panicked, bracing himself for the onslaught. But then a tremendous surge of hope washed over him when he recognized the sing-song cadence that could only be Aro's.

"Edward? Edward! Can you hear me?"

He wanted to call out to him, to let him know that he was trapped in his own body, but the internal weight pressing down on him was still too great. He began to fear that Aro might not be able to find him in the maze. He suddenly remembered that he had forgotten where and when and if he had stopped moving.

And then the very next instant, he felt like sobbing, his relief was so great; Aro had found him! He felt the man's hands on his face and shoulder. Had he once recoiled at the prospect of the other vampire's touch? He laughed at his own idiocy. The hands were steady and strong and comforting. Had he imagined the ancient skin would be brittle with age? It was warmer and softer than anything he had ever felt. He turned his cheek into it, never wanting it to leave. He wished he could crawl into the man's arms and cry, so overwhelming, so liberating was the feeling of being found, of being safe.

Slowly, as if he were surfacing from a deep, black abyss, his vision began to return. At first, all he could see was a small ring of brumous light, and then a larger ring framing Aro's worried face, and then the walls of his room came into focus.

He was aware of where he was now. He was lying on the bed, as if he had never left it. As if he and Carlisle were still in the room, the one listening while the other read.

"Carlisle!" He sat up abruptly, remembering that he had left the room.

"Edward, lie back." The strong hand gently pushed him back down. "You are still not yourself."

"But is he here? He found you? Did he tell you that she - " He couldn't calm down completely until he was certain Carlisle had made it safely out as well.

"Edward, you must stay still and rest."

"But is he here?" He watched as Aro exchanged a glance with another vampire standing across from him. "What? Where's Carlisle? What happened?" Gone was the happy feeling of peace of mind.

Aro pursed his lips, shaking his head sadly and his brow creased. "Edward, you must remain calm. We are looking everywhere for him, but.." His eyes were filled with sorrow. "But we have not been able to locate him."

Edward threw himself back against the bed and howled in anguish.

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When Carlisle regained his senses, he found that he was lying in a small, stone room that lacked windows and furnishings. He blinked, slowly regaining his bearings, before recalling what had happened. His first thought was for Edward, for he fully understood how foolish he had been to leave the boy alone. He allowed himself thirty seconds each of self-pity and despair, and then focused, trying to ascertain where he was. As near as he could tell, he was still in the catacombs of the castle. He did not recognize the room, but the setting seemed vaguely familiar. He suspected it was much deeper underground than he had ventured, as the earth surrounding the room muffled the sound outside. He tried to think which of the passageways might lead to his locale, but was interrupted by the sound of quiet footfalls approaching. He recognized the man's scent before he heard his voice.

"Caius!" He growled loudly enough for the intruder to hear.

The other man laughed as he opened the door to the cell. "Well, well! Carlisle! It seems I have seen you in this predicament somewhere before. Let me see, that would have been, ah! The last time you were with us!" And he leaned casually against the wall, resting his weight on one leg.

Carlisle groaned. Of course. That was how he knew the area. He had been here before! Not the exact room, but in the wing that housed the prisoners. Only he was the only one down here this time. That explained why he couldn't hear anyone else.

"Well, well." Caius continued, examining his fingernails in mock study. "This is an unhappy predicament for you, Carlisle. You have relinquished your freedom and your mate at one fell swoop. Do you feel like asking yourself how this travesty came to be?"

Carlisle knew better than to rise to the bait.

"Ask yourself what were you thinking - to try to blend with the human population, to adopt their ways? Perhaps that was the beginning of the end for you, eh? Not when you left us, but when you chose to try to circumvent your true nature and join forces with the most unlikely of allies. And where are they now, these comrades of yours, now that you are in such dire need of aid?"

"Where is Edward?" Carlisle asked quietly, wondering how long the man would carry on before he told him what he came to tell him.

"I don't know. Haven't seen him, not one hair on his pretty little head." His eyes narrowed slyly. "You'd best ask Aro that question," he advised.

"Does Aro have him?" He was trying to decide whether or not that would be a good thing. Aro wouldn't harm Edward, of that he was certain, but he didn't want to think of what aspirations the man might have for the boy.

"Oh, yes, I am sure he does." Caius looked sincerely uninterested in Edward's fate.

"When can I see him?"

"Edward?" That got a boisterous laugh.

"Aro."

"Ah! I shall leave that up to him. I suspect he will be busy for awhile with his new toy, eh?"

Carlisle lunged at him, pinning him to the wall. Out of nowhere, two guards appeared to restrain him.

"Temper, temper! And you with the reputation for being a man of God!" Caius dusted non-existent dirt from his sleeves and carefully rearranged his robes. "Well, I shall leave you to your... quiet." He smiled. "Perhaps I'll bring you a little something to eat later. I suspect you will find yourself thirsty if you stay down here too long." He turned to make his departure.

"Caius!" Carlisle called to him. "Please! Please tell Aro I need to speak with him."

The man turned back once to peer intently at him, and then left without another word.